Prisoner
by Lady of the Emblem
Summary: Zelda is a prisoner. Forced to marry and be the perfect trophy wife to save the lives of the Smash Kingdom's equally oppressed citizens. Dedicated to Paradigm of Writing, Inuyasha Armin Scarlet, and MahNati. NOW WITH AN EPILOGUE.
1. Chapter 1

My name is Zelda.

Queen Zelda.

Being a queen is something most young girls dream of. I myself did, as a young girl.

But this is hardly like anything I envisioned.

I'm only 16.

When I was about 15, that's when everything started. A man named Ganondorf took over the Smash Kingdom, he killed Princess Peach, and imprisoned the resident hero, Mario. He made himself king. He forced the citizens into labor, and taxed them heavily, until all they had left were the clothes on their backs and a few crumbs of food.

Despite these hard times, I had a beacon of happiness. My betrothed, Link, and I were to be married soon. I loved him with all my heart, and I longed for the days to pass quicker, so that we may finally be united in mind, body, and soul.

But then, a fortnight before the wedding, castle officials came into our house. They took my photo, and wrote down my information, just as many other officials did for all other unmarried girls.

Not knowing the purpose of the census, I brushed it off. But a week after, I was deep into wedding preparations, when more officials came.

They said I had been chosen to marry the king, because of my youth and beauty.

A great honor, they said.

A life of luxury, they said.

Yet I refused. But the King would have no one else, and they threatened to harm my family, should I refuse further.

I arrived at the castle in tears. Handmaidens came and escorted me to my room. They washed and dressed me in a elaborate white dress and gorgeous gold jewelry.

But I hated it.

I'd rather marry my true love in a gown of rags while wearing a ring of twine, than marry a cruel tyrant in the most beautiful clothes money could buy. I was walked down the altar by a some unknown guard, and I shakily agreed to love my husband in sickness and health, for better or worse, rich or poor, for as long as I lived.

I was lying.

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After all these years, I've given up hope of anyone overthrowing Ganondorf. We rarely speak. All I am to him is a trophy, a beauty to carry on his arm.

"Your Majesty." A guard says, standing at attention in the doorway. "The King has commanded I tell you that you are to join him in the tax collection today." His face is passive, emotionless, but his eyes betray his worry.

"So be it." I murmur, as handmaidens come swarming, dressing me a royal purple dress with gold trim and wide draping sleeves. Purple is the hardest color of fabric to obtain, because the dye is so rare. Just another way to show off the royal treasury's contents. They pin heavy earrings on me, solid gold no doubt, as well as a weighty necklace. And to my surprise, a gorgeous golden circlet adorned with gems.

"The King had it commissioned 'specially for you, milady." One of the handmaidens says as she helps adjust the heavy gold.

But I am not fooled. King Ganondorf does not care for me. He commissions beautiful, extravagant jewelry and dresses for me so that the people may see how wealthy and powerful he is, and I must walk meekly at his side, to protect those I love.

I walk out, escorted by a guard, the same one that delivered Ganondorf's message to me,all the way to the doors of the needlessly extravagant palace. My husband is waiting there for me. His eyes rake over me and escorts.

"You are dismissed Marth." He rumbles in a low voice. Yes, he knows the guards by name. Only so that he can more easily punish them if they step out of line. I can tell he sees the same worry in Marth's eyes as I did, and I know I will not see him in my wing if the castle again.

My husband is not unattractive, but his cruelty would drive away any person worth keeping.

We exit the palace with an entourage of guards, and another few guards supporting a large casket that people would drop taxes into.

First we walk through the more high class area. The citizens line up respectfully at the sidewalks, while we walk right in the center if the road.

No one is permitted to drive on Tax Day. People leave sidelines to drop money in the casket. I spot Link's parents, my almost in-laws, Luigi and Rosalina, and even after five years, I choke back tears. Slowly the houses get shabbier and the people more grimy and unkempt.

"You bloody coward! You call yourself a queen?!" A woman breaks free of the crowd, screaming. She is dressed in too-small clothes and her face is streaked with dirt, but she has shiny golden hair that hangs in ponytail.

In a different life, she would have been very beautiful. Maybe in a different life, we both could have been happy.

"Ike, silence her." Ganondorf commands. Ike, my husband's favorite guard, lazily flings a dagger at the girl, barely even glancing at her. She is so startled that she forgets to move, and the dagger impales her throat.

She was dead before she hit the floor.

The rest of the trip is uneventful. Ike escorts me back to my room once we reach the palace.

I am never without escorts.

"Don't worry milady." Ike whispers. I'm startled by his deep voice. "Tomorrow it will be over."

"What?" I ask in a disbelieving voice. What will be over? My imprisonment? Ganondorf's reign? My life?

"It would advisable to stay in your room tomorrow, milady." Ike bows, and dismisses himself before I can voice my concerns.

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I don't stay in my room. I request to join the King in his court, which is accepted. I sit on my jeweled throne, and feel Ike's disapproving eyes burrow into my back as I watch young men be interviewed about becoming guards. A young man comes up, with scruffy, dirty blond hair. He looks up, and I barely conceal a gasp as I spot his cerulean eyes and mischievous smirk.

Even after five long years, I didn't forget that face.

I never could.

Link.

He walks up and bows to us, then as he straightens himself up, he launches a dagger at the King. At the same time, Ike, Marth, and several others guards fling their knives. I even spot the master tactician, Robin, with one of his own.

I am so preoccupied with watching the knives fly, flipping end over end, light reflecting off the blades, that I only when I feel a throb in my side do I realize that I've been struck. I touch my right side and my hand comes away red. Immediately I start feeling dizzy and slump down in my throne.

Shapes swim around in front of my eyes, blurry and out of focus. Then that voice. The voice of my true love.

"Zelda! Zelda please!" Link's desperate voice cries. I hear them yelling for a doctor, but I know it's too late.

"Link." I whisper, reaching up and touching his face with my bloody hand.

He turns to face me, eyes full of tears. "Hang on Zelda, you'll be-"

"Link." I repeated, my voice hoarse. "It's too late."

"No." He croaked. "We can still save-"

I silence him with a kiss.

My last kiss.

And then I am no more for this world.

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**Dedicated to Paradigm of Writing, Inuyasha Armin Scarlet, and MahNati. You guys are my inspirations. *thumbs up***

**(I suck at writing no need to mention the plot holes shhhhhh.)**


	2. Epilogue

**Fine, fine. Here's your bloody epilogue.**

_Epilogue_

Another council meeting. I hate these things with a passion. I hate being king too.

My name is Link, and I'm a commoner on a king's throne. Apparently the people would have no one on the throne except the person who took down the tyrant. What could I do? Refuse and face all the backlash, or suck it up and do...for Zelda.

I chose the latter. It was no fun thing to revolutionize a whole country. The massive kingdom of Smash was spilt into territories. Dreamland, the Mushroom Kindgom, Skyworld, Ylisse, and Hyrule. That makes me a Hyrulean.

Zelda would have been a Hyrulean too.

Then there was the matter of setting up a small ruling party for each territory, a ruling party that answered to the High King. In other words, me.

Then a representatives for each territory to serve on the council and highlight the state of their territory and advise the High King.

They were doing a terrible job on that last, by the way.

"Your Highness, the kingdom needs a boost in morale and a heir. Both of which could be accomplished through marriage." One of the advisors, Mac says. Mac, affectionately called 'Little Mac' due to his short stature, was one of the most annoying people on this council.

"For the hundredth time, I won't marry." I said stubbornly

"But You Highness, the Queen Zel—" Mac began.

I cut him off. "Don't say it." I growled. "I didn't ask to be king! All these responsibilities...I didn't want any of this!" I shouted, throwing my crown onto the table and storming out.

Dragging a hand through my blond hair, I walked over to the gardens. In the center, a simple white headstone sat, surrounding by blood-red roses with golden thorns as sharp as knives.

I sat on the green grass, facing the headstone.

"Zelda." I said. Her name felt thick and clumsy on my tongue.

"Zelda." I said again, more confidently.

"Zelda...are you proud of me? I did this all for you...to make the kingdom into a place you would have loved."

"I didn't want any of this. After you died...I couldn't handle it. I was constantly losing my temper and throwing pots and vases...all because you were gone."

"You were...no, you still are. You are the light of my life Zelda, forever and always."

XxXxX

I was in a field of lush green grass. There was a lake bluer than the sky, and the sun was bright and cheery.

I saw the palace in the distance.

"Where am I?" I thought out loud. I had never been in a place like this before, dream or otherwise. I constantly turned my head, looking around and taking in the beautiful meadow.

I turned towards the lake in the distance, and noticed a figure sitting at its edge. I slowly started walking towards it.

I can't believe my eyes.

It was Zelda.

"Zelda...?" I asked, afraid of what she might say.

She didn't answer.

"Zelda...how are you here?" I asked. I was shaking.

"I'm not." She said, not taking her eyes off the rippling lake.

"You died." I said bluntly.

"That's right. Zelda is dead. I'm just a figment of your imagination." The Not-Zelda said.

"But why...?" I asked, confused. This was hurting my head.

"You want Zelda back. Understandably so. But you must let her go, or you'll never find peace." Not-Zelda said sadly. She hasn't looked up from the lake yet.

"I don't want to let Zelda go...she means everything to me." I said.

Not-Zelda looked to be on the verge of tears. "Let her go, Link." she implored, turning to me, staring at me with those big, diamond blue eyes. "Let me go."

"I—"

Just like that, everything disappeared.

XxXxX

"Your Highness?" Called a voice.

"Mmmmppphhh." I mumbled.

"Link!" The voice said persistently. I opened an eye and found my chief scientist and best friend, Shulk, standing over me.

"Whaddaya want?" I grumbled.

"Stop lazing around, buddy. You're the king."

"I've done enough work today."

"You stormed out on the council."

"What's your point Shulk!?"

Shulk sighed. "The kingdom still needs a lot of work until you can start sleeping in piles of gold."

"You know all the council does is bug me about getting married." I said irritably.

"I know...just..go do something. Distract yourself."

I scowled and stalked to the treasury. I grabbed a big crate and told my guards to fill it with as many gold pieces as they could fit.

"Your Highness? If I may know, what are do to with all these gold coins?" My captain of the guard, Marth, asked.

"We're going to the slums." I announced. Ganondorf would have 'tax days' where everyone would line up on the streets and give him their gold.

Now it'll be the other way around.

Marth smiled humorlessly. "Your Highness, am I correct in assuming you'll be throwing gold at the poor?"

I looked at him over my shoulder. "You assumed correctly."

Several hours later.

Hot and sweaty, my guards and I trudged back towards the palace. The crate of gold was completely empty.

As we walked towards the towering palace, the houses got nicer, and gardens more lush, and the streets cleaner.

Maybe one day, the whole kingdom could be like this.

"Your Highness!" A voice shrieked.

I turned my head back and forth. That wasn't the voice of any of my guards, and there was no one in sight.

Then, to my shock, a little old lady came running out of an alley and shoved a baby bundle into my arms. "Please...give him the life he deserves." She said as she fainted

I simply stared as my guards gathered around the fallen old lady.

"She's dead." Marth said, his voice flat. "Heart failure, I assume."

"Have her buried in the castle cemetery." I can't just leave her body here.

"What of the baby? Shall we take it to an orphanage?" Roy, another guard, asked.

Oh yeah. I was holding a baby. I looked at it carefully. It looked to be a boy, with blonde hair. His skin was porcelain, just like Zelda's...

With a shock, I realized this baby could have been ours. A little boy, with my blonde hair and her fair skin and hopefully her diamond eyes...

"Your Highness..?" Roy asked uncertainly.

"No." I mumbled. "No. I repeated louder. "I'll raise him. This child is now my son and heir."

"What will you name him?" Marth asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Toon Link. Toon for short."

As we were walking back, Toon started crying, opening and revealing big, diamond blue eyes.


End file.
